Digital Commons Network^™

Worthless? Victims Of Family Violence And The (Non)Payment Of Child Support, Joanna Radbord

Canadian Journal of Family Law

This article details the profound challenges experienced by victims of family violence seeking to access child support. Survivors face physical, mental, and financial barriers to obtaining support. Despite its recognition as the “right of the child,” many survivors forego an application for support altogether. For those victims who bravely attempt to make a claim, they generally confront further abuse and disempowerment within the adversarial litigation process. They often face an overwhelming power imbalance in negotiation, undermining their psychological and financial well-being. If survivors obtain an agreement or order for child support, child support regularly goes unpaid. Given the flaws in …

Is Originalism Bullshit?, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

It’s finally time to answer the big question. This Article draws on the surprisingly robust literature examining the definition, essence, and significance of bullshit and evaluates whether originalist constitutional interpretation fits the bill. I begin with Harry Frankfurt’s definition of bullshit as utterances made in pursuit of the speaker’s goals without regard for their truth value. I also rely on alternate formulations, including bullshit as unclarifiable nonsense as well as contextual and audience-centric variations of bullshit.

While not all instances of originalism are bullshit, I identify those instances which are, and go on to demonstrate that originalism is uniquely prone …

Virginia Commonwealth University Professional Bulletin (2025), Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Professional programs bulletin for Virginia Commonwealth University for the academic year 2025-2026. It includes information on academic regulations, degree requirements, course offerings, faculty, academic calendar, and tuition and expenses.

Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate Bulletin (2025), Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Listing of courses for the 2025-2026 year.

Virginia Commonwealth University Undergraduate Bulletin (2025), Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Undergraduate bulletin for Virginia Commonwealth University for the academic year 2025-2026. It includes information on academic regulations, degree requirements, course offerings, faculty, academic calendar, and tuition and expenses for undergraduate programs

Creating Worlds: Anarchist Education Within And Against The State, Paul B. Berlet

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis shows how contemporary U.S. schooling reproduces domination and erodes freedom by examining education as a mechanism of social reproduction, disciplinary control, surveillance, and neoliberalization. I draw on Foucault, social reproduction theory, Freire, Vygotsky, and anarchist philosophy while using a critical action research lens to name the structural forces that condition obedience, normalize hierarchy, and individualize responsibility. In response, this thesis asks how anarchist pedagogy functions as an antithesis to these forces. This framework leads me to articulate how anarchist education could emerge through prefigurative community building. Educators are capable of helping to create new worlds both within and …

Standard Education For Standard Thought: Standardization And Accountability As An Antithesis To Critical Consciousness, Taya Black-Kobrynich

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis explores the impact of neoliberal policies on educational standardization and examines how these policies have shaped contemporary educational practices. The central argument posits that the emphasis on standardization within education systems, driven by neoliberal ideologies, significantly undermines the development of critical consciousness in students and society. By prioritizing uniformity and measurable outcomes, educational standardization restricts creativity, inquisitiveness, and critical thinking skills— essential components of raising democratic citizens.

Drawing on a comprehensive review of history and literature, this research demonstrates how standardization policies promote a narrow, test-focused curriculum that neglects the natural inquiry of students. The analysis highlights the …

Finding Meaning In Modern Crisis: Hypermodernity And The Vita Activa, Jacob B. Tease

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Hannah Arendt’s 1958 book The Human Condition describes modernity through the lens of the vita activa. While useful in understanding human experience with modernity, the way the world has advanced makes the vita activa insufficient for describing our present world. I argue that the world is now in a state of hypermodernity, and use the vita activa to describe how powerlessness develops in the face of large-scale hypermodern crisis. The concern of hypermodernity is that humans experience an inability to perform true action, and this results in powerlessness. Hypermodern powerlessness translates into an inability to meaningfully affect …

Exploring Macro- And Microplastic Pollution In Southeastern Pennsylvania Ecosystems, Victoria Moreira

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Plastics have become a ubiquitous pollutant due to their increasing production worldwide. Current recycling infrastructure is inadequate, causing most plastics to end up in landfills or the environment, where they can take decades to break down and release additional pollutants in the process. To combat plastic pollution, nearly thirty municipalities in southeastern Pennsylvania have enacted single-use plastic (SUP) bans. We sampled anthropogenic litter from nine stream sites within municipalities with three different SUP ban statuses for seven sampling rounds roughly one month apart. We found that riparian areas within active SUP bans had more SUPs and other plastic items than …

Intergenerational Classification Of Reddit Comments Based On Slang And Emoji Usage, James T. Dracup

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The rapid evolution of language, driven by technological advancements, has created notable cultural gaps between generations, particularly in how they communicate. This gap is most apparent in the growing use of slang and emojis among younger generations. This study aims to explore whether Reddit comments can be classified by generation based on the usage of slang and emojis, the frequency of their use across generations, and how such features (slang and emojis) might influence the meaning of traditional language. Using Reddit’s API, we collected comments from four generational subreddits and applied various machine learning models, Naïve Bayes, Neural Networks, and …

A Survey Of Nurse Practitioners' And Physician Assistants' Students' Preparedness And Interest In Utilizing Physical Activity In Patient Care, Barrett Snyder

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Despite the well-documented benefits of physical activity (PA) for physical and mental health, as well as its role in preventing chronic disease and reducing mortality, most individuals fall short of meeting recommended PA guidelines. Although medical professionals recognize the value of PA counseling, several barriers, such as limited academic coverage, time constraints, and lack of reimbursement, have hindered its consistent implementation in clinical practice. To address these challenges, initiatives like Exercise is Medicine (EIM) promote integrating PA as a vital sign and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, including referrals to Clinical Exercise Physiologists (CEPs), to support PA promotion. This evolving approach presents …

Fares On Fairness: Using A Total Error Framework To Examine The Role Of Measurement And Representation In Training Data On Model Fairness And Bias, Patrick Oliver Schenk, Christoph Kern, Trent D. Buskirk

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Data-driven decisions, often based on predictions from machine learning (ML) models are becoming ubiquitous. For these decisions to be just, the underlying ML models must be fair, i.e., work equally well for all parts of the population such as groups defined by gender or age. What are the logical next steps if, however, a trained model is accurate but not fair? How can we guide the whole data pipeline such that we avoid training unfair models based on inadequate data, recognizing possible sources of unfairness early on? How can the concepts of data-based sources of unfairness that exist in the …

Diversities Requiem: Fashion’S Very Own Brand Of Exceptionalism And Rethinking Mcdonnell Douglas, Symrin Greenhow

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

"What Is Title Ix? What's It Mean?": An Instrumental Case Study In Today's Secondary Schools, Kristin Haggerty

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Sexual harassment and assault, as defined by Title IX, are widespread issues in middle and high schools, yet schools often fail to provide sufficient education to students and staff about the policy and its protections (Grant et al., 2019). Title IX is a federal law designed to ensure fair and equal treatment of students and employees in educational settings while also overseeing the handling and adjudication of sexual misconduct allegations (Klusas, 2003). This study was conducted using instrumental case study research. 36 staff members from the middle school, high school, and administration of a mid-sized school district in Southeastern Pennsylvania …

Effectiveness Of A Cbt-Based Mental Skills Program Among Adolescent Girls’ Soccer Players, Doyinsola T. Ogunsami

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The role of mental health in athletes’ well-being and performance has been a popular and pervasive topic in recent years. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel CBT-based mental skills program for nineteen high school girls’ soccer players (M = 16.3; SD = 1.5). The evidence-based 8-session Coping with Stress course was adapted for athletes and delivered to one in-person and two virtual groups. A pre-post design with no control group was used and differences between pre- and post- measures were examined using the Wilcoxon signed-ranked test. The Short Grit Scale-Sport, Competitive State …

African American Labor And Community In New London, Connecticut: Oral History Interview With Jackie Massett, Jonathan Dayan, Jackie Massett

Student Research and Publications

In this two-part oral history interview, Jackie Massett (b. 1946) reflects on African American Labor and community life in New London, Connecticut. Massett pays particular attention to Black employment at Connecticut College, the Griswold Hotel, and Norwich State Hospital examining the fields of domestic service, food service, and healthcare. Massett discusses family members and community figures she grew up with in the city and where they worked. Those mentioned include Carl Monroe, Maxine Monroe, and her aunts, Laura and Ida, who all worked in various roles at/involving Connecticut College and other employers in Southeastern Connecticut. The interview explores the role …

Case Study: Impact On Student Outcomes, Kyoungeun Song

Bakerman Student Research Awards

Effective literacy instruction requires more than teaching by instinct. Teachers must make decisions based on research. This case study began while I was working with Zaya (a pseudonym), a kindergarten student who struggled with reading. Zaya was eager to learn, but her baseline data showed serious difficulties. Her Initial Sound Fluency (FSF) score was zero, and she could not name letters without constant teacher prompting. She often waited for me to start first and then copied me. These results showed that Zaya was experiencing real challenges in phonological processing. This led to an important research question: How can a research-based …

Come, Follow Me And Life Preparation, Denise Mccubbins

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

This paper explores foundational principles for effective gospel teaching in seminary: being Christ-centered, learner-focused, and scripture-based. It highlights the integration of Come, Follow Me and Life Preparation lessons to address students’ spiritual and practical needs. Teachers are encouraged to balance exegesis (understanding scripture’s original intent) and eisegesis (personal application) for meaningful, doctrinally accurate lessons. Through creative and purposeful scripture study, educators can align lesson objectives with students’ lives, fostering deeper conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Between Private Equity And Housing Discrimination: The Long-Term Crisis In St. Louis And Beyond, Harold Braswell, Alexandra Mcnamee, Charitha Bodepudi

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

On December 15, 2023, Northview Village, the largest skilled nursing facility in the Saint Louis region, closed abruptly, leading to the nighttime discharge of 170 residents. This emergency, while unique to that facility, is indicative of a broader crisis in both local and, to a significant extent, national nursing homes. This crisis has partly been catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it rests on underlying factors that are unfortunately integral to the financing and operation of long-term care. This article will argue that understanding it requires situating long-term care at the intersection of two broader historical processes: the rise of …

The Intersection Of Regulation, Quality Care Delivery, And Ethics And Compliance: Look Carefully Before Crossing!, David R. Hoffman, Ilene Warner-Maron

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Quality and compliant care delivery in nursing homes remains elusive. Four main interests are currently misaligned, thereby putting nursing home residents at risk of harm. Without a clearly defined commitment to quality and compliant care and alignment of these interests, nursing home residents will remain vulnerable to severe harm.

The first key interest concerns nursing home ownership and management. Currently, over seventy percent of nursing homes are owned by for-profit entities. Previous ownership models, including non-profit, religious-based, and county-owned facilities, have largely closed or transitioned to for-profit entities. The shift in ownership significantly impacts quality and compliant care delivery. Unfortunately, …

Whose “Best Interests”? Concerns About The Use Of Fiduciary Framing In Long-Term Care Decisions, Jennifer L. Herbst

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

As part of reimagining America’s long-term care system, this article will explain how today’s system is, in many ways, the logical extension of historical presumptions that are foundational to our understanding of family, medical, and organizational governance as “fiduciary” in nature. More specifically, much of our current language (operating in someone’s “best interests,” acting consistent with their “substituted judgment” if now incapacitated) and jurisprudence (parens patriae, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, and corporate governance) descends from centuries of equity and law centered on the management of property, not people or health.

This legal framework is firmly rooted in English statutes, court opinions, …

Email Synthesis Assignment: Using Ai To Assist Us In Creating Effective Business Communication, Gino Perrotte

Open Educational Resources

This assignment teaches students how to distill complex financial data into a clear, professional business email by analyzing real 10-K reports. A key strength of the assignment is that it models effective AI prompting strategies—students are guided in how to interact with AI tools like ChatGPT to clarify data, summarize trends, and craft a concise email.

The focus is not just on using AI, but on developing critical thinking and communication skills. Students learn to assess what information is important, how to frame it for a workplace audience, and how to co-create with AI while ensuring the final …

Mental Health And Belongingness Of Doctor Of Physical Therapy Students: A Mixed Methods Study Centering Black Student Voices, Robyn Redline

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: Despite efforts to increase recruitment and enrollment, the physical therapy profession lacks Black students and clinicians. Racially marginalized students have higher rates of academic difficulty during physical therapy education (PTE) than White students. Mental health and belongingness have been proposed as prerequisites for reaching academic achievement and attaining one’s full potential. Conversely, poor mental health and lack of belongingness during PTE may contribute to the underrepresentation of Black Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students and clinicians. Yet not enough is known about the relationships between mental health, belongingness, and the academic achievement of DPT students. Purpose: This study aimed …

Dietary Patterns And Nutrition Education: A Comparison Of Eating Patterns, Physical Activity Levels And Nutrition Education Of Older Adults That Utilize Community Meal Assistance Services In The Community, Teresa A. Ridolfi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The older adult population is rapidly increasing, with projections indicating that 21% of the general population will be 65 years or older by 2030. This demographic shift is accompanied by a rise in health co-morbidities such as obesity, heart disease, certain types of cancers, and diabetes, which are exacerbated by inadequate nutrition and decreased physical function. This thesis examines dietary patterns, physical activity levels, and nutrition education among older adults utilizing community meal assistance services in Northern Illinois. The study aims to evaluate nutrient intakes, adherence to dietary guidelines, and physical activity levels among this population, using a descriptive epidemiological …

Unsafe In Any Sport: The Constitutional And Structural Failure Of The U.S. Center For Safesport, Matthew Rounis

Colorado Law Student Scholars

No abstract provided.

Fraudulent Transfer Law’S Forgotten Foundations, Douglas G. Baird

The University of Chicago Business Law Review

Fraudulent transfer law is one of the principal bulwarks of private law. Fraudulent transfer law, however, now faces a crisis. Courts have long assumed that it was easy to determine whether a debtor made a fraudulent transfer of its property. One could use traditional markers of ownership to determine whether the debtor transferred property to a confederate. But today, most assets are intangible. Transactions happen in the blink of an eye, and they take place entirely on corporate books. Reliance on simple notions of what constitutes a “transfer” of property is wholly inadequate. Understanding what it means for a debtor …

Risk, Return, And Restoration: A Fundamental Approach To Pre-Judgment Interest, Yijia Lu, Scott Vincent

The University of Chicago Business Law Review

Courts routinely miscalculate pre-judgment interest, thereby failing to fully restore injured parties. Because pre-judgment interest can be substantial—often rivaling or even exceeding the underlying award—errors in its calculation are important and may create distorted incentives, promote opportunistic behavior, and suppress investment and economic activity. These errors often stem from reliance on speculation to determine the costs covered by interest. This Article argues that such speculation is unnecessary. The litigation claim is identified as the asset which has burdened the injured party with risks and costs imposed by the wrongful act, eliminating the need to rely on a hypothetical asset to …

Textualism As A Pro-Employee Force In Employment Discrimination Law, Alex Reed

The University of Chicago Business Law Review

Textualism has gotten a bad rap, at least insofar as employment discrimination law is concerned. Derided by antidiscrimination scholars as an interpretive smokescreen concerned less with faithfully construing statutory text than reliably yielding pro-employer results, textualism is understood to pose an existential threat to employment discrimination law. This Article challenges academic orthodoxy by demonstrating that, in practice, textualism is correlated with employee-favorable outcomes. Specifically, the Article examines a subset of the Supreme Court’s major employment discrimination cases over the past thirty years and finds that textualism is twice as likely to be associated with outcomes benefiting employees than it is …

L1 Chinese Learners’ Interlanguage Of English Infinitive And Gerund Verbal Complements, Sixin Qin

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research, following the Interlanguage Hypothesis (Selinker, 1972), examined L1 Chinese learners’ interlanguage of English infinitive and gerund constructions and probed into the psycholinguistic factors influencing the development of their interlanguage. The targeted verbs were verbs that can be followed by both infinitive and gerund complements, depending on the contexts, i.e., forget, remember, stop, and regret. A guided story oral production (GSOP) task and a semi-structured interview were conducted individually with 31 L1 Chinese learners, whose English proficiency was at an intermediate level. The results showcased that L1 Chinese learners’ interlanguage of English infinitives and gerunds was motivated by multiple …

Exploring Social Issues In And The Reception Of The Thai Television Series The Gifted, Siyu Liang

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research explores the Thai television series The Gifted (GMMTV, 2018) as a cultural text that reflects the power dynamics and social inequalities embedded in Thailand’s educational system. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power, the research examines how the series portrays mechanisms of control, compliance, and resistance within a hierarchical school environment. Textual analysis is complemented by a reception study of audience responses collected from YouTube, IMDb, and MyDramaList, revealing how viewers interpret and emotionally engage with the drama’s social implications. The findings suggest that The Gifted functions not only as youth entertainment but also as a critique …